Chapter 1 Terrence “Yeah! That’s what I’m talking about, baby!” Terrence Murdoch yelled over the heavy bass before tossing one-hundred-dollar bills into the air and letting them fall like confetti. The cute brunette in front of him showed her appreciation by doing a split on the stage, clad in only a smile and a bright yellow G-string that glowed under the blue-hued stage lights. Two other strippers danced beside her in clear platform stilettos, gyrating and swinging around each pole as Terrence and his friends hooted and yelled with delight in the VIP section of the club. Terrence didn’t know where to look first. It was a delectable sampling of full breasts, round thighs, and pert behinds. He just wanted to dive in and bask in all the womanly beauty. He raised his beer bottle and toasted the sexy performance. “I’ve died and gone to heaven!” he cried. He then turned to his older brother, Evan, who had hung back from the stage and chose to stay at the table behind them. “Ain’t they beautiful, man?” When he saw what Evan was doing, his grin disappeared. He slammed his bottle back to the table in outrage. “Ev, what the . what the fuck? Are you kidding me?” Instead of admiring the strippers, Evan had been peering down at his BlackBerry under the flashing strobe lights. At Terrence’s cry of outrage, the company CEO glanced up from his phone screen. “Huh?” Evan asked absently. “Oh yeah, it’s great, Terry.” He began to type on the phone keys again. “Ev, put that damn phone down and look at this, man!” “I’ll be right with you. Just let me finish this e-mail,” Evan said, still furiously typing. “Got to get this out tonight. They’re in a different time zone.” Terrence reached over and yanked the BlackBerry out of Evan’s hand, catching his brother by surprise. “No, look at it now! How can you be doing business when you have this in front of your face?” he asked, jabbing toward the stage. One of the women dropped to her knees before turning her ass toward the men huddled around her. She did a twerk that made the men holler for more. Another stripper hopped up on a pole and twirled around and around, letting her blond curls dangle inches above the ground. “I mean . come on!” Terrence turned back to look at his brother with a grin that was so wide it could barely be contained on his face. “Look at this!” Evan gazed at the two strippers, inclined his head, and nodded. “Nice,” he said thoughtfully, like he was considering a new pair of shoes. “Nice?” Terrence comically looked at the women onstage, whipped his head to glare at his brother, then stared at the women on the stage again. “What the hell do you mean, ‘Nice’?” He jabbed his index finger at the strippers. “Those women are fuckin’ perfect, Ev!” Evan emphatically shook his head and smiled as he reached into his jacket pocket and whipped out another cell phone. He dragged his index finger across the screen, scrolling through a series of photos. “No, this is perfect.” He held the glass screen toward Terrence. Terrence squinted under the club lighting to see what his brother was showing him. It was a photo of Evan’s fiancée, Leila. She was wearing a tank top and yoga pants and rolling her eyes as Evan took the picture, like she had wanted anything but to be photographed at that moment. Terrence had to admit that his future sister-in-law was one gorgeous woman. And Evan had been pining after her for years—hell, decades! He had been secretly in love with her since he was nine years old. In Evan’s mind, Leila Hawkins had probably reached almost mythical proportions in beauty, brains, and loveliness. But still, how could a man ignore what was right in front of his face? It destroyed the whole purpose of Evan being here at the strip club if he sat toward the back of the room, fiddling on his BlackBerry. Terrence had invited Evan out with his friends for a night of drinking and debauchery to give Evan a long-needed break. His older brother was a consummate workaholic, and now, when he wasn’t working, he was almost plastered to the side of his new fiancée. Terrence had wanted his big bro to have some fun. But Evan looked like he would be more entertained if he was sitting at his desk going over contracts and sales figures at Murdoch Conglomerated, where he was CEO. Or maybe he’d rather be sitting beside Leila, staring at tablecloth swatches for their wedding reception. “Are you telling me you aren’t just a little bit interested in looking at those titties?” Terrence pleaded. He once again pointed to the stage. “Not just a little?” Evan burst into laughter. “I’m sorry, Terry, but from here they look like average breasts to me. But you know what? Go ahead and enjoy yourself. Don’t let me ruin your fun.” He yanked his BlackBerry out of Terrence’s hand. “But if you don’t mind, I’ll take this back.” Terrence slowly shook his head in bemusement as he watched his brother sit down in one of the leather club chairs and start scanning through his e-mails again. Operation: Get Evan Turnt Up was going downhill—fast. Terrence glanced at the drink Evan was now sipping: a Shirley Temple. He could try to ply Evan with alcohol to make him loosen up, but he knew that wouldn’t work. Evan didn’t drink thanks to his alcoholic wife, Charisse. Her drunkenness had been part of the reason they were now getting a divorce —that and the fact that she had been cheating on Evan. Nope, getting him drunk is out of the question, Terrence thought. An idea suddenly popped into Terrence’s head. A wicked smile crossed his full lips. “Well, if they just look like average titties from here. I guess you’re going to have to see them up close.” Evan frowned quizzically as he lowered his glass black to the marble tabletop and looked up from his e-mail. “I’m sorry . what?” Terrence suddenly turned on his heel, marched toward the stage, and shoved a group of his friends aside so that he was front and center. “Ladies!” he shouted as he whipped out a series of hundred-dollar bills, spread them into a fan, and brandished them in the air. “My brother would like a lap dance. Now! A grand to the first woman who does it.” The three strippers paused mid-routine. One almost fell off her pole. Another scrambled off her knees. The three women ran off the stage and came barreling toward Evan, whose mouth was agape. One looked like she nearly twisted her ankle trying to make her way down the short staircase. “No!” Evan said, holding up his hands in protest and furiously shaking his head. “Really, ladies, I’m fine. I don’t . I don’t want a lap dance!” Terrence cackled as he watched the strippers shove and elbow-check each other to get to Evan first. The blonde turned out to be the victor and promptly fell onto Evan’s lap and started gyrating for all her worth. “Terry!” Evan yelled, trying his best to rise out of his chair without touching the half-naked women who were huddled around and over him. “Terry!” “Enjoy it, Ev!” Terrence grabbed his beer and held it up before tossing the hundreds in his hand into the air and taking a swig. “You deserve it!” “Hey, you forgot this,” Terrence said as he handed Evan his suit jacket. The two men walked out of the strip club almost two hours later into the chilly February night. A few of Terrence’s friends trailed behind them, laughing and joking with one another. “I didn’t forget it,” Evan mumbled as he tossed the suit jacket over his forearm. “It was stolen from me.” Terrence chuckled. One of the strippers had ripped off Evan’s suit jacket as soon as they had descended on him like a herd of locusts. His necktie had been removed, too, when one of the other strippers used it to bind his hands behind his back when he kept struggling. Another had smothered his verbal protests by shaking her double-Ds in his face. “Come on! Admit it!” Terrence prodded, looping an arm around Evan’s neck in brotherly affection. “You had fun, didn’t you?” “It was . interesting,” Evan said just as one of the guys behind them leaned over and vomited on the walkway not too far from the club’s red carpet. “Oh, hell no!” the burly bouncer boomed, hopping off of his stool in front of the door. “Ya’ll better get his ass outta here!” he ordered, making one of the guy’s companions nod and grab his sick friend around the shoulders. Another helped guide him toward a car that was parked at the end of the block. Evan and Terrence shook their heads in disgust as they watched the trio walk off. “Is your friend gonna make it?” Evan asked. Terrence waved his hand dismissively. “He’ll be fine. One of them will get his sorry ass back home tonight. I don’t know what his wife will think when she sees him like that, though, but”—Terrence shrugged—“that’s his problem.” Evan narrowed his eyes at Terrence.